The Wii U, which went on sale in November 2012, sold 13.56 million units before it was discontinued in 2017 and was considered a commercial failure. It sold more than nine million copies in its short time on the market. With a total company revenue of 4.44 billion US - a 177% year over year rise, and an operating profit up 261% year over year, Nintendo is printing money right now. What kind of games do you think we'll see before the year is over? It now expects to make a profit of 160 billion yen ($1.47 billion/£1.03 billion), 33.3% above previous forecasts.

The Metroid Prime series was the shining star of the GameCube's library over fifteen years ago and it's not a stretch to say the idea of Prime 4 after the bad Federation Force has come as a pleasant surprise for long-time Nintendo fans.

'Switch sales during the holiday season were stronger than expected in Japan, the United States and Europe, ' commented Tatsumi Kimishima, President of Nintendo.

Stellar demand for Switch pushed Nintendo's operating profit up nearly four-fold to ¥116.50 billion (Dh3.92bn) for the third quarter.

People familiar with the development plans said new peripheral hardware devices for the Switch are planned, without elaborating. In an earnings report released on Wednesday, Nintendo announced that its software sales volume totaled 47.1 million units. Counting third-party releases, eight Switch games have become million-sellers, a benchmark for hit status.